New observatory to study airport capacity in
Europe

The Community Observatory on Airport Capacity was
officially inaugurated today. The Observatory’s task is to advise the
Commission on the development of measures to improve the capacity of the
European airport network. It will also play a vital part in implementing the
Commission’s action plan on the capacity, effectiveness and safety of
airports in Europe.

Closing the inaugural meeting, Antonio Tajani, Commission Vice-President
responsible for transport policy, said ‘the Observatory will help us in
our efforts to avoid any future shortage of airport capacity which might arise
from the continuous growth in air transport, while complying with environmental
standards’.

The idea to set up such an observatory was announced in the action plan for
airport capacity, efficiency and safety in Europe, which was adopted by the
Commission in January 2007[1]. The
plan contains specific measures to maximise the effectiveness of existing
airport infrastructure and to improve the planning of new infrastructure. It
also provides for raising the safety and environmental compatibility standards
of airport hubs to the highest levels.

The Observatory will serve as a forum for the exchange and monitoring of data
and information on airport capacity and will operate as a pan-European
observation centre. It will issue non-binding opinions, either at the
Commission’s request or on its own initiative, which will serve as a basis
for producing guidelines or regulatory instruments. The Commission will
therefore be able to seek its opinion on methods for assessing airport capacity,
infrastructure planning procedures, train/plane Intermodality and airport
accessibility.

The composition of the Observatory will ensure that all stakeholders are
represented and that it operates in an effective manner. All the Member States,
Eurocontrol, the SESAR Joint Undertaking, academia and the Commission will be
represented, as will airports, airlines, the local authorities concerned,
airport coordinators, environmental groups and people living or working near
airports.

The Observatory has been set up for a period of five years, at the end of
which its provisional work programme should have been completed. That is also
the time at which SESAR should be entering its operational phase, deploying new
technologies to improve the operational capacity of airports.

[1] COM(2006) 819 final of
24 January 2007. The Commission’s action plan has been endorsed by the
European Parliament (Resolution of 11 October 2007) and by the Council
(Conclusions of 2 October 2007).